


Life Is The Magician

by Radiolaria



Series: Meta Essays [14]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Archived From onaperduamedee Blog, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Growing Up, I love Moffat and the way he talked about mourning so much, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 17:18:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radiolaria/pseuds/Radiolaria
Summary: Moffat’s stories exist in bubbles. Not in the sense that they are fragile and transparent structures, but in the sense that they seem to develop in parenthesis.A reflection on storytelling and character struggles in the Moffat era.





	Life Is The Magician

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published on Nov. 19, 2017 on [onaperduamedee](https://onaperduamedee.tumblr.com/post/167641278143/happy-steven-moffat-appreciation-day) for Moffat Appreciation Day.

Moffat’s stories exist in bubbles. Not in the sense that they are fragile and transparent structures, but in the sense that they seem to develop in parenthesis.

Amy escapes for a night of many nights before her wedding; the Doctor meets his death from both ends on Lake Silencio; Gallifrey unboxed, War Doctor canonized; Clara runs parallel lives, after deaths and eternally out of time; River Song dead, revealed, married, sent away, sent off; Bill is promised the world by a girl and gets it in a tear.  

Parenthesis opened in the first episode. Closed in the last. A world of wonders in-between.

By writing cold open as endings to defuse ( _The Impossible Astronaut_ , _Last Christmas_ ), time loops as mysteries to unravel ( _Heaven Sent_ ), deaths as beginnings to complete ( _Forest of the Dead_ , _Hell Bent_ , _The Doctor Falls_ ), anniversaries as curtain calls ( _Time of the Doctor_ ), Moffat chooses to evacuate the element of surprise in favour of suspense because he’s a masterful storyteller and knows it’s just better for acrobatics. But when he opens a parenthesis at the start of a season, he chooses to let consequences infuse a season-worth of distraction because he cares about his characters more than anything else, even more than the acrobatics. Dilating the unrest, ripples from the initial shock carve a peculiar relief into the humdrum of saving the world in time for tea. We won’t be privy to the characters’ inner workings, or so little. With Moffat, processing happens in-between, in the middle, over life.  As if the Doctor’s journey wasn’t so much part of the companion’s life as it superimposes on theirs. Just like we do in our life.

In transparency, you can still see Bill’s heartbreak over Heather, but through the shimmers of adventures. Amy’s impending commitment will still wait for her, River’s visit to a home that is never hers always comes, so does the Doctor’s responsibility, Gallifrey’s ultimatum, Clara’s raven. Travelling with the Doctor draws smokescreens that skew and colour reality, without altering its actual shape. The characters, eyes lost, still have their hands firmly gripping their heart, their reality: the shape of fear, of heartbreak, of impatience, of guilt, of love is impossible to mistake.

The rush was a distraction, but one that allowed everything else to move around freely. The characters performed, all on their own, with only a box as assistant, a magic trick called growing up, healing, letting go, falling, persisting or dying. Life was the magician.  

Parenthesis closed. Bubble burst. Tricks should be kept secret.


End file.
